Buffer-coupling for railway and other rolling-stock.



PATENTED DEC. 19, 1905.

J. T. .TEPSON. BUFFER COUPLING FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER ROLLING STOCK.

APP'LIUATION FILED MAR.2'Z. 1905.

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No. 807,677. PATENTED DEC. 19, 1905. J. T. JBPSON. BUFFER COUPLING FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER ROLLING STOCK.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 27. 1905.

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msomevv, PATBNTED 1150.19, 1905. J; T. JEPSON.

BUFFER COUPLING FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER ROLLING STOCK.

. APPLICATION-FILED m' amzv. 190s.

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TTED STATES PATENT OFFJIQJE.

JAMES THOMAS JEPSON, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 19, 1905.

Application filed. March 2'7, 1905- Serial No. 252.370-

To all who? it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES THOMAS J EPSON, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at London, England, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Buffer- Oouplers for Railway and other Rolling-Stock, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to automatic bufiercouplers, and is mainly intended as an improved construction over those described in specification No. 716,772, the object being to produce a tight coupling adaptedfor passenger-carriages. To this end instead of the shackles having to travel up the inclined face of the hook as the two couplers approach and then fall over the hook by gravity, which necessitates a considerable amount of clearance between the bufier-faces, as described in said prior specification, according to the present invention, which is known as the Jepson coupler, it is proposed that the coupler-hook should be formed as part of a circular disk or segment of metal, carried by a pivot-pin passing through the head of the coupler behind the buffing-faces and below the table supporting the shackle sides. This disk-hook rotates through an angle of about ninety degrees in the action of coupling or uncoupling, and in action the construction is such that the clearance between the bufling-faces may be reduced to a minimum and a simple and effective uncoupling device may be employed which may be operated with equal case from either side of the wheels.

Further details-of the invention will be hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is an elevation, partly in section, of buifer-couplers made in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 shows the position of the parts when coupled. Fig. 3 is a plan View. Fig. 1 is a detached view of one of the disks in its locked position; Fig. 5, a similar view in an unlocked position; Fig. 6, a plan view, partly in section, showing the position of the locking-pin when the disk is locked; and Fig. 7, a similar view prior to locking.

The portion of the disk 1 immediately behind the hook 2 is practically horizontal when the hook is in the closed position, and the portion behind the horizontal part toward the outer edge of the disk rises, so that when the disk-hook is in the uncoupled position the former horizontal part is practically vertical with a slightly-overhanging nose-piece 3, so

that in the event of a shackle 4 striking the vertical portion of the hook violently the shackle is prevented from rising clear of the disk by the nose-piece. In the uncoupled position the actual projection forming the hook remains nearly hidden below the inclined table 5 of the coupler, immediately behind the buHing-face 6.

The construction is such that in action when two couplers approach the shackle 4: of the lowerpasses under that of the higher and up the inclined table 5 of the opposing couplerhead until it comes in contact with the vertical wall of the disk-hook 1, which it causes to rotate until the buifer-faces are close together, when the disk-hook has passed through an angle of ninety degrees or thereabouts and taken up its closed position, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4:, the portion directly behind the hook 2 being practically horizontal. The rotation of the disk-hook 1 in the first instance is caused by the direct pressure of the opposing shackle 1 as it advances, and the rotation is completed by the weight of the shackles acting on the horizontal portion directly behind the hook, the hook being so formed in the disk that when the shackle has turned it as far as possible by end pressure the part weight of the engaging shackle with the added weight of the over lying one presses on a portion of the disk beyond the pivot-point 7, about which it rotates and causes it to turn until stopped by a projection 8 on the rim of the disk coming in contact with the metal of the buffer-head. The disk-hook 1 is then in its closed position. and to insure the disk always returning to the correct position the horizontal portion behind the hook may be so formed that it stands slightly above the horizontal table 18 of the coupler-head, and thus the disk is held against the stop and in the closed position by the weight of the shackles. When the engaging shackle 4 mounts the inclined table in the coupler-head prior to coupling, it lifts the overlying shackle at a point in advance of the center of gravity, and consequently causes the nose to pass over the disk-hookin the opposing coupler without causing it to rotate. Consequently only one shackle of each pair becomes coupled. The shackles themselves are carried by connectingpins 19, which pass through vertical slots 15 in the flanges at the rear of the buffer-head.

The disk-hook 1 may be locked in the closed position by any convenient method; but it is preferable that the locking arrangement should be such that it may be released with equal facility from either side of the vehicle for the purpose of uncoupling. To this end it is proposed to employ a transverse bar 9, passing through holes in brackets or projections below the coupler-head. The longitudinal center of this bar is set on the circumference of the disk in any convenientposition, and a recess 10 is cut across the rim of the disk, corresponding to half the cross-section of the locking-bar 9, in such a position that the locking-bar may pass through and lock the disk-hook 1 when the latter is in the closed position, so that if the locking-bar 9 is in position the hook cannot be opened without shearing the material of the bar.v On each side of the disk-hook part of the locking-bar is cut away for a length slightly more than the thickness of the disk-hook, so that when the locking-bar 9 is drawn to one side or the other and the cut-away portion 11 brought opposite to the solid metal of the disk-hook 1 the latter will be free to rotate until the projection on the lower portion 8 comes in contact with the other part of the locking-bar when the disk-hook is in the open position.

Both ends of the cut-away portions 11 of the locking-bar 9 on one side only and both ends of the recess 10 in the rim of the disk-hook on one side only may be inclined at an angle of, say, forty-five degrees, or thereabout, so that if the cut-away portion 11 of the locking-bar 9 is not brought exactly opposite the full width of the disk-hook it will be guided to that position by the inclined surfaces 12 when the vehicles commence to move apart. The same action will take place in the event of two vehicles not being properly connected the coupler-heads will at once separate. The inclined surfaces 12 also give the locking-bar a considerable lead when two vehicles are driven together at a high rate of speed, and they thus insure their becoming coupled by the assistance of the springs shortly to be described. The combination of the springs and inclined surfaces will also assist in bringing the disk-hook home to the closed position rapidly.

One or both of the outer ends of the locking-bar 9 are provided with a spiral spring 13, acting between the outer face of the guidebrackets below the coupler-head and a collar fixed to the end of the locking-bar. These springs 13 are so arranged that when the locking-bar is in the central position and the hook closed, as shown in Figs. 3 and 6, they are both slightly compressed and are acting against each other, and thus prevent the locking-bar from moving out of its central or locked position. The outer ends of the locking-bar 9 may be provided with a short length of chain 14:, the outer end of which is hung at the end of the vehicle close to the side, sufiicient loose chain being allowed to admit of the locking-bar being pulled into the unlocked position (see Fig. 7 with the couplers pulled over on the most severe curve.

When it is desired to uncouple two vehicles, the chain 14 at either side is pulled and the spiral spring 13 on the opposite side compressed until the cut-away portion 11 of the locking-bar 9 is brought opposite to the metal of the disk-hook 1, when the latter is free to rotate and the vehicles are uncoupled. To prevent the locking-bar being pulled out too far and the spring damaged, a sleeve may be provided round which the spring 13 fits, and

this sleeve acts as a stop between the bracket and the collar at the end of the locking-bar. If the operator should continue to hold the bar against the power of the spring after the vehicles have parted, the metal of the bar at the outer end of the cut-away portion comes in contact with the side of the rim of the diskhook 1 and holds it in the position in which it has been left by the shackle 4: passing over in uncoupling and it is ready for reengagement, and immediately the operator releases the bar the spring 13 brings the inner end of the cut-away portionll of the locking-bar 9 in contact with the opposite side of the rim of the disk-hook 1, upon which it will continue to press as a brake and hold it in the position ready for engaging until the time for recoupling, when the disk-hook will be turned by the approaching shackle 4 against the brake-pressure of the locking-bar on the disk, and when the end of the inclined surfaces of the locking-bar and disk-hook come opposite each other the spring will force the locking-bar home and assist automatically in closing the hook.

If no brake were applied to the rim of the disk-hook in the ordinary case, it would take up a position about midway between the coupled and uncoupled positions, owing to the cut-away portion of the disk being the lightest, instead of remaining in the uncoupled position ready for recoupling automatically; but the latter position may be automatically attained by a proper balancing of the parts. The tendency to remain in the open position may be secured by cutting away the thickness of the metal of disk 1 between the nose-piece 3 and stop 8 in the direction toward the rear of the buffer-head or by making that portion of the disk from the hook 2 to the stop 8 in the front of the buffer-head on a larger radius than the rest of the disk. In either case the tendency will be the same, and the disk will normally assume an open position.

With some forms of locking devices for the disk-hook shackles provided with a transverse bridge 20, situate above the shackle, as indicated in Fig. 5, may be employed and in such a position that when the shackle is standing in the horizontal uncoupled position and ready for coupling automatically or when the nose of the shackle is depressed by contact with the opposing shackle this transverse bridge 20 will fall into a recess 10 or rest upon the rim of the disk-hook beyond the hook portion, and thus hold the disk-hook in position until the shackle is raised in the action of automatic coupling by the opposing shackle entering the coupler-head, when the disk-hook will be free to rotate as the opposing shackle approaches. The overlying shackle is retained in this raised position until the vehicles have been uncoupled and the couplers separated, when the shackles resume their horizontal position, and the bridge holds the disk-hook in the open or operative position.

The disk-hook 1 can be readily removed from the bufler-head by simply withdrawing pin 7, and under certain circumstances also the locking-bar 9, and the pin 7 may then be used for coupling with an ordinary link, or it may be replaced for use with a hook-coup- The opening in the coupler-head 6 s made of such a width that the point of the opposing shackle 4: may enter and vehicles become coupled automatically on any reasonable curve. The sides of the opening forming the face are vertical and in plan view inclined toward the coupler-shank, the inclination being such that the shackle of the opposing buffer is guided over the point of the hook when the nose of the shackle comes in contact with the vertical part of the disk-hook when in the open position, so that as the hook rises it will always pass inside the shackle and not strike the solid metal, which would prevent the disk turning or cause the coupler to jam.

The inclined face in the base of the couplerhead, up which the shackle travels when engaging, must be taken as far below the center of the coupler at the bufling-face as will allow for the shackle entering upon it at the maximum difference in the buffer height whichit is possible to get with the stock to be fitted. For various main-line vehicles this should not be less than four inches. 4

The portion of the incline on which the shackle rests should be such that it will allow the nose of the shackle to depress as much as the buffer heights may vary after coupling.

It will be understood that the term diskhook or segment where used is intended to include any construction which provides a hook and nose with a recess between for receiving the shackle and capable of being rotated on a horizontal pivot by the action of an incoming or outgoing shackle.

What I claim is 1. In buffer-couplers and in combination, a bufier-he ad, a shackle attached thereto, a rotatable coupling-hook, a recess to receive an opposing shackle, and a locking device for holding the hook in its closed position.

2. In buffer-couplers and in combination, a I

buffer-head, a coupling-shackle attached thereto, a rotatable coupling-hook and a locking device adapted to engage with the hook and hold it against rotation.

3. In buffer-couplers and in combination, a bufler-head, a coupling-shackle, a rotatable coupling-hook so Weighted and formed as to normally assume an open position and when closed that the weight of the engaging and overlying shackles tend to hold it in its closed position, and a locking device adapted to en gage with the hook and hold it against rotation.

4. In buffer-couplers and in combination, a bufier-head, a rotatable coupling-hook, a recess in such hook, a spring-actuated lockingbar adapted to fit in the recess in the hook, recesses in said bar which when opposite to the hook will permit the latter to rotate, the walls of the recess acting as a friction-brake against the hook.

5. In bufier-couplers and in combination, a buffer-head, a rotatable coupling-hook, a recess in said hook adapted to receive a lockingbar, a locking-bar, recesses therein, the walls thereof being inclined to form leads to assist in securing the engagement and locking of the hook in its closed position.

6. In bufler-couplers and in combination, a buffer-head having a recess therein, a shackle attached to the head, a rotatable hook adapted to fit therein and to be readily removable therefrom, and a locking-bar adapted to engage with the hook and hold it in its locked position.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES THOMAS JEPSON.

Witnesses:

A. KNIGHT CRoAD,

CHAs. T. YOUNG.

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